The CBC and its investigative news program Fifth Estate is being sued by the Iglesia Ni Cristo Church of Christ (INC) after officials said a Nov. 11 broadcast Church of Secrets defamed their church.

In a 17-page statement of claim to be formally filed on Monday at Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench, the church claims the broadcast and an accompanying online article “portray INC and its affiliates as having had involvement in inappropriate activities, including intimidation, kidnapping, murder, and financial wrongdoing. These allegations are malicious and have impugned the integrity, reputation and character of INC and its affiliates.”

“Even in their program, they admit that their whole show was without evidence and it was a very slanderous show against the Church of Christ or the Iglesia Ni Cristo and we just want vindication,” said Rod Bruno, a Toronto-based minister and church spokesperson. “We’re asking for the CBC to look better into their facts and to consider issuing a public apology to the Church of Christ for the damage they have done in creating an uproar even in social media by also posting their program there where people have said very malicious things about the church without even really knowing anything about the church but only what they saw on the Fifth Estate.”

The church is also asking for a retraction of the story.

“If they only knew how the church is involved in outreach programs, aid to humanity, helping the less-fortunate,” said Bruno. “For this to be portrayed as what the church’s image should be is very insulting, painful and has created a bad name for the church.

“(It is) A terrible stain and we want vindication, that’s all.”

Winnipeg lawyer Jay Prober, who is representing the church, said Friday that CBC has said they don’t intend to make an apology or retraction.

“CBC News stands behind this story,” said Chuck Thompson, head of public affairs for CBC English Services in an email to the Winnipeg Sun.

The first congregation of the INC was established in Winnipeg in 1972 and now has 92 congregations across Canada including 11 congregations and 10 group worship services in Manitoba. The church is in 148 countries and territories worldwide and claims thousands of members.

“Even the title of the program was Church of Secrets,” added Sidney Santos, a Winnipeg minister and church spokesperson. “That’s why we’re here today to show that the church has nothing to hide. That we stand on our belief that the church has done nothing wrong and that these allegations are merely allegations.”

Among the allegations in the program the church disputes is the claim by a woman named Luzie Gammon that a church member murdered her husband in the Philippines. Church leaders claim she later retracted her statement and said a different person was the killer.

“For the so-called investigation that CBC did for this Fifth Estate program should have uncovered that and didn’t and they went ahead with a clearly scandalous and untrue allegation against the church,” said Bruno.

The church has yet to determine if the program has caused any financial losses and may also be seeking financial damages.

“It’s also punitive so they learn that when they create programs like this, they check their facts and they don’t just put anything out there just because someone said it and consider it as true and air it as true to the point of slandering a religion that is full of God-fearing good people” said Bruno. “All they want to do is serve God peacefully and this is on the news because one or two disgruntled people have made negative comments about the church.